This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Traditional marketing approaches have included the use of discount offers distributed to consumers in the form of paper or printed discount certificates commonly referred to as coupons. Such coupons are generally distributed via, e.g., mailers or newspaper cutouts, or presented to consumers at a retail location. These coupons typically contain transactional data describing a particular transaction enabled by the coupon, such as a product's description, the coupon's amount or value, an expiration date, etc. Additionally, such coupons may contain certain identification data, e.g., various numbers, letters, barcodes or other symbols sufficient to uniquely identify the coupon and/or the product or service to be discounted. For example, upon presentation of a coupon at a point-of-sale terminal, the coupon could be scanned or otherwise identified and the requisite discount or value associated with the coupon could be applied to a purchased product.
With the advent of the Internet, online shopping and advertising has become more prevalent. For example, many retailers now maintain websites to allow consumers to shop online for products and/or obtain certain information related to such products. Additionally, many businesses now also provide coupons to consumers in an electronic format. That is, coupons can be sent to consumers via email, where the email contains a graphic representation of a coupon that can be printed by the consumer at his/her local printer. The printed coupon can then be taken to a retail location and redeemed by the consumer.
Due to the nature of these conventional electronic coupons and the manner in which they are distributed, it is easy to redistribute them to other consumers, some or all of whom may not necessarily be authorized to take advantage of the associated discounts offers. For example, retailers may require consumers to register at their website in order to receive coupons that are periodically sent via email. However, the registered consumers may then forward the email to other consumers, e.g., family or friends, who have not registered with the retailer and thus, are not authorized to receive and redeem the coupons. Additionally, registered consumers may post Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)/links to the electronic coupons on certain “coupon websites” or online blogs so that any visitor to the coupon website or blog can take advantage of any posted electronic coupon. Because the electronic coupons are being posted outside of a retailer's or coupon provider's control, electronic coupons cannot be prevented from being fraudulently printed and redeemed.